If Jesus Came to Our Church
(S) Scripture
Mark 11:15-17 (NIV)
15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,
16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
(O) Observation
When Jesus entered the temple he saw the emphasis was on commerce and not on worship. He then forcibly cleared the area. The temple leaders had taken the area set aside for Gentile worship and made it a marketplace. The leaders were also selling sacrifices at inflated prices. The leaders had lost sight of the purpose of the temple. It had become something that rather than honoring God was dishonoring and so in addition to clearing the area he reminded the people of the purpose God had set for the temple.
(A) Application
As I thought about this passage I thought about two things; 1) Our Church and 2) our personal lives. Both of these have been describes as "temples". Questions that came to mind: 1) Would Jesus pull out his whip if he came into First Baptist Charlotte? 2) Are we focused on the purposes God has set for our gatherings together? 3) Are we so focused on the commercial that people are distracted from worship? 4) Is my life so caught up in money that I am distracted from true worship? 5) Am I inviting people to join our church or to follow Jesus? 6) Does Jesus ne4ed to pull out his whip in my life to drive out the things that hinder me and others from honoring Him with our worship and obedience. These are serious questions that we need to ponder. More than pondering as a church and as an individual I need to act to correct any area where we are not in obedience to the Lord. Today has been a good day for reflection but must be followed by action.
(P) Prayer
Lord Jesus you know my heart and I want it to be clean and tender before you. Do what cleansing that needs to be done and mold me into the person you want me to be. Let my life be one that honors you. As pastor of First Baptist Church Charlotte help me to keep the focus squarely of you and the purposes you have for us. Let our church be a place where people worship you and fellowship with each other. Amen
2 comments:
Something else is critical in this text (I realize that a blog can't cover it all.) The selling would have been quite normal in that area. Many individuals had to purchase in order to sacrifice. However, the problem was the "robbing" by charging individuals an inordinate amount which they could not pay. By constructing the barrier, the merchants were robbing the people in two ways: 1) They had to pay more than the market should bare, thus they were "robbing" the people and 2) They were robbing the people of their opportunity to appropriately worship God. The question is raises in my mind: "What barriers have we constructed that are robbing people of their worship of God?" I think that the list could be endless. Your thoughts friend????
Bud
That is a question I struggle with all the time. There are barriers of time of day and day of week and place that keep some people away. There are issues of access and then layout of the sanctuary. On and on I could go. But most important is that I cannot create worship, I can only give the opportunity for worship to take place. Worship is something each individual must bring with them. Worship happens when the individual brings it and then we corporately express our worship together. We can facilitate the opportunity but ultimately worship is the responsibility of the person.
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